Thank Your Lucky Star
by Silversight
Summary: AU After the capture and forced confession of a certain filthy rat, Sirius is freed and has custody of fiveyearold godson at last. However with Death Eaters on the loose and unexpected magical accidents, Harry and Sirius find help from a ghost of the past
1. Things That Go Bump in the Night

Disclaimer:grumbles: I own nothing you stupid icky lawyers…Go away and leave me alone.

**Chapter One: **Things That Go Bump In The Night

Sirius had to have paced around Privet Drive at least a dozens times by now. He wasn't sure how long he just wandered along the Muggle neighborhood, thinking, waiting, and wondering.

It had been nearly two weeks since the Ministry ran into the filthy supposedly dead rat and questioned him. Now Sirius stood across the street staring wistfully at the Dursley residence, wanting nothing more than to see his little godson again. The custody papers all signed, their home ready and waiting, only the business of picking Harry up remained.

Of course, it probably wasn't the best idea to fly his motorcycle there at three in the morning. The abandoned undisturbed street was all he'd find at this hour. Harry was no doubt snug in bed sleeping soundly with the rest of the sane people of the world.

However, a faint crash caught Sirius's attention to prove there were others about at such an ungodly hour. Muffled sounds followed the crash and Sirius's eyes widened as he realized the source of the ruckus came from none other but his godson's house. He could have sworn he felt his heart come to a screeching halt as an eerie green light illuminated the windows of Number 4 Privet Drive.

Pushing panic aside and whipping out his recently returned wand, Sirius raced across the street and burst the front door open. Two Death Eaters turned just in time to him before his stunners found their mark. Three loud cracks from above told him others has just disapparated. He bounded up the stairs and opened the closest door to find the bodies of Dursleys and strangely enough a Death Eater, but no Harry.

_Oh no. No. No. No. He's here. He's fine. He has to be, _Sirius thought desperately. He refused to believe he had lost his godson, the only thing he had left to live for, when they were so close to being together again.

He cautiously opened the other doors down the door, bracing himself for the possibilities that could lie behind each one, but found nothing of his godson.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted, not ready to give up hope just yet, He searched under beds and small hiding places. "Harry! Come on out, kiddo! No one's going to hurt you!"

Coming back down the stairs Sirius noticed the tiny cupboard under the stairs. He instantly recognized the tingling sensation of powerful magic surrounding it. Sirius turned the handle and peered inside to find a small boy with glasses and a mess of untidy dark hair hugging his knees with tears down his cheek, pushing as far away from the door as the cramped space would allow.

"Harry," Sirius whispered, relief rushing through him like a flood,

"I-I'm s-sorry," Harry sobbed. "I d-didn't mean to hurt anybody. Aunt P-Petunia screamed and the gr-green light was scary. I-"

"Shhh. It's alright, kiddo," Sirius said soothingly. "You didn't do anything wrong. Come on out of there, Harry. They're gone now."

"Wh-who are you?" Harry asked nervously, not moving a muscle to leave.

"I'm Sirius, Harry, your godfather and a really good friend of your parents. I'm going to get you out of here, okay?" Sirius explained, holding out a hand to help Harry out.

Harry considered the hand for a moment before accepting it and allowing Sirius to carry him out of his cupboard. His godfather's arms felt strange and foreign to him, yet oddly comforting as well.

"That's it Harry. Now we're going to-"

But Sirius barely had time to think _Merlin, this kid is small for five,_ before he heard someone creeping behind him and whirled around, Harry in one arm, his wand raised and ready in the other.

"Black. I should've known you'd come to your precious godson's rescue," sneered the voice behind the mask. "What would itty bitty baby Potter do without you protect him from the big bad Death Eaters?"

"Bellatrix?" said Sirius incredulously. "What-How did you-?"

"Escape Azkaban?" Bellatrix finished for him. "Well, not all of us get the get out of jail free card like you did cousin, but your good buddy Wormtail was a great help." Bellatrix laughed manically. "Now that we're free our master shall soon return as well. So, if would just hand over baby Potter there'll be no need for family quarrels, cousin."

Sirius gave Harry a reassuring squeeze before setting him down and placing himself in front of the boy. "You're raving if you think I'm just going to hand over Harry, Lily and James's son, the child I swore to protect and just wish you luck on the Voldemort search."

Bellatrix flinched upon hearing her master's name, but merely shrugged and said, "Suit yourself," before shouting "Come on out, boys!"

Suddenly dozens of Death Eaters were apparating out of nowhere, completely surrounding them. Harry fearfully took a hold of Sirius's hand, despite Aunt Petunia's voice in the back of his head scolding him for the action. He had to admit he was worried when the annoying lady asked Sirius told hand him over, but he got the feeling his newfound godfather would keep him safe no matter what.

"One more chance, Bla-"

"Go. To. Hell," Sirius said through clenched teeth, gripping his godson's hand tightly.

Bellatrix's eyes glinted gleefully as she nodded to the other Death Eaters. Every wand was aimed in their direction. There was no way Sirius could get the two of them out alive. Abandoned the idea of fighting them off, he bent down and wrapped his arms around his godson, shielding him from what would soon be a barrage of Unforgivables.

"As soon as the light goes away, I want you to run away as fast as you can and don't look back, okay Harry?" he whispered in the boy's ear urgently.

He felt Harry nod against his shoulder as the Death Eaters collectively muttered, "Avada Ked-"

A flash of light came all right, but the entire house was illuminated with a blinding red. Sirius looked up to find Albus Dumbledore with several Aurors in the doorway.

Harry and Sirius made a run for the door, Sirius stunning as many as he could on his way out. Casting a final longing glance at the duel between Bellatrix and Dumbledore, Sirius turned to the petrifying sight of seeing his little godson trapped in the arms of Wormtail with a knife to Harry's throat.

Sirius raised his wand to blow the filthy rat into the pieces he should have blown him into long ago, but felt his wand fall to the floor as Wormtail pressed harder on the blade and Harry winced. He could only stand and watch powerlessly, as the horrifying realization that Wormtail could end Harry's life forever hit him with the speed and force of the Hogwarts Express.

"If you hurt him," Sirius said through clenched teeth, "you know I'll see to it personally that you die in the most drawn-out and excruciating manner available."

"Th-that's if y-you c-can find me under my m-master's protection," Wormtail muttered nervously.

"Your master is as good as dead."

"Not for long," Wormtail said, revealing the vial in his hand and slowly piercing Harry's skin with the blade.

Suddenly a flash of red light came from behind the filthy rat and Wormtail fell to the floor as Remus stepped in, nodded to Sirius, and joined the fight.

Sirius ran to Harry and examined the small cut across his pale throat. Luckily it hadn't been deep enough to do any real damage. He then preformed a quick Cleansing Charm on the knife that had drawn Harry's blood, as it was obvious that was what the filthy rat was after.

Ignoring the crazy urge to plunge the knife into the filthy rat, Sirius picked up his godson and ran the rest of the way to his motorcycle. Putting on Harry's helmet and instructing him to hold on real tight to Sirius, they sped off into the sky.


	2. Bad Words and Muddy Mutts

Disclaimer:grumbles: I own nothing you stupid icky lawyers…Go away and leave me alone

**Chapter 2: ** Bad Words and Muddy Mutts

Harry woke in a bedroom that had to be three times the size of Dudley's. He lay in a gigantic spacious four-poster bed full of heavy snug blankets and comfy pillows. It was beyond anything could imagine after four years of a cramped cupboard, an uncomfortable cot, and a thin sheet. There were even toys and books all neatly placed in a chest or on the shelves as though calling for him to take them out of place.

For a while, Harry could only sit in awe, having no idea why he would be in such unbelievable room. The Dursleys would do their own chores before they put Harry in such an extravagant place where he could break so many obviously expensive things. Then his eyes fell on the man who had rescued him the night before, Sirius, in a picture on the fireplace mantle with a baby in his arms, standing beside a man in glasses whose hair was as stubbornly untidy as his own.

Harry marveled at the photograph, and the others beside it. Not only were they all moving, smiling, laughing, and waving up at him, but these were the first pictures he had ever seen of his parents. For the first time Harry could see that he looked like a little version of his father with his mother's stunningly bright green eyes.

The sound of distant voices reached Harry's ears. He reluctantly turned away from the pictures, walked across the room, and opened one of two large oak doors to peer outside.

Downstairs, Sirius was picking moodily at his breakfast as he discussed the previous night with Remus, and about what he suspected of his godson's treatment over the last four years.

"Yes, Sirius, Lily always said they were some of the most wretched people she had ever known, but-"

"But nothing, Remus! From what I gather they kept him in a cupboard! A cupboard! Not to mention he was wearing pajamas that looked as though they belonged to a baby elephant. When I went back to get his things they were all the same. That great whale of boy had a bedroom _and another_ to hold all his of nice clothes and about an entire toyshop. Harry only had a cramped corner and hand-me-downs that could swallow him whole," Sirius ranted.

"Hand-me-downs are perfectly norm-"

"And why can they swallow him whole?" Sirius interrupted. "Because Harry's only getting a small fraction of what he should while his cousin was eating five times of what he should! I sincerely doubt Harry has gained a single pound that wasn't height related since he was put on those Muggles' doorstep."

"I thing you're exaggerating a little too much, Sirius," Remus said rationally. "Besides, they're gone now. There's no reason to-"

"Damn lucky for them I hadn't gotten there first or I-"

"Sirius?"

The adults turned to find a sleepy looking Harry standing timidly in the doorway. Remus, taking his first good look at the small boy could slightly understand where Sirius was coming from. Harry was far too scrawny for someone his age.

"Er-How long have you been standing there, kiddo?" Sirius asked, motioning for Harry to take seat next to him.

Harry was half tempted to ask why Sirius kept calling him kiddo as he took his seat at the table, though he knew better than to ask questions. "Don't worry. I hear people say bad words all the time. I don't mind," the ignorant child answered.

"And such a vile thing for me to do." Sirius said, remembering Lily's smacking hand whenever he used foul language in front of her baby boy. "You know better than to say such offensive words, don't you Harry?"

Harry nodded vigorously, then asked, "What's vile?" before he could stop himself.

Instead of the usual scolding for asking questions, Harry was surprised when Sirius answered, "It means disgusting, nasty, icky."

"Oh." Trying his luck Harry asked cautiously, "What's offensive?"

"Wrong, rude, hurtful to others," Remus replied.

"Who are you?" Harry asked next, wondering if this newfound freedom would last long.

"Harry, this Remus Lupin, a friend of mine who was also close to your parents," Sirius introduced. "You can call him Moony. He'll come by every once in awhile to make sure I'm not burning down the house or something equally stupid."

"What would you like for breakfast, Harry?" asked Remus, smiling kindly.

This was something different. He could ask questions _and_ have people ask want _he_ wanted. He couldn't remember ever being such a question in his life. He just took whatever he got and was grateful whether he liked it or not.

"Um…toast," he answered, listing his usual breakfast meal.

"Nothing else?" Sirius asked, surprised. " Eggs, bacon, pancakes…?"

"Pancakes?" Harry repeated excitedly, shocked that he would be offered such a treat.

Suddenly a plate with a stack full of pancakes drenched in syrup popped out of nowhere in front of him with a tall glass of chocolate milk. Harry started at the food in awe. It had appeared as though by…

"It's just the house-elves," Sirius explained.

"House-elves?"

"They're magical creatures that live to serve their wizarding families," Remus informed him.

Harry instinctively flinched at hearing those words. "How come grown-ups get to say bad words?" he asked curiously.

"What?"

"You said a bad word, and then Moony got to say the really, really bad ones that not even Uncle Vernon would say."

"What words was that?" Remus asked, frowning.

Harry clapped both of his hands over his mouth. He wouldn't dare say those words again.

"It's all right, Harry. You can say them this time for us," Sirius said reassuringly. "We want to know what the really bad ones are so we're careful next we want to say them."

Harry removed his hands slowly and asked fearfully, "You won't punish me?"

"No punishment this time," Sirius promised him.

Harry took a deep breath, as though preparing for the worst, before whispering, "W-wizard…a-and magic," then clapped his hands back over his mouth. Looking between the two stunned adults Harry braced himself, just in case.

"They _punished_ you for that?" Sirius finally shouted incredulously, coming out of his stupor. "It's who you are for Merlin's sake!"

Remus frowned. Perhaps Sirius wasn't exaggerating as much as he thought he had.

Sirius rose from his seat furiously, wincing as Harry shrunk back. He strode out of the kitchen, needing to kick some furniture away from his godson.

"It's really offensive, isn't it?" Harry asked, removing his hands from his mouth once more.

"No, Harry, but it was really of vile of your relatives to teach you that," said Remus. "You're now allowed to say those words as much as you want to."

"But it made Sirius angry."

"At your family because you're afraid to do something not only common but practically necessary in our world," Remus explained.

Sirius marched back into the kitchen.

"How?" he asked.

"Pardon?" said Remus.

"How did they punish you, Harry?" he repeated.

Remus was about to say Sirius was probably overreacting until Harry muttered to his pancakes, "I'm not allowed."

Sirius's unsteady hand raked through his long dark hair as he bent down next to his godson. "Harry, I need to know how they punished you," Sirius repeated once more softly. "I promise you won't get into any trouble. Can you tell me the worse thing they ever did to you?"

For a moment Harry only continued to stare into his pancakes before looking to Sirius with questioning eyes. Finally he turned back to his pancakes and mumbled, "Uncle Vernon would get really angry, and he'd hit me if I was really bad, then he would lock me in my cupboard for a week without meals, and Aunt Petunia would let me out to do chores all day while Uncle Vernon went to work."

Sirius paled considerably and pulled Harry into a tight hug, which Harry returned uncertainly, before getting up and saying in a voice of forced calm, "Finish your breakfast, kiddo. Remus, would you mind looking after him while I go and pay Dumbledore a visit."

"Of course," Remus agreed numbly, his face also completely drained of color.

After Sirius left for several hours, Remus told Harry stories of the Marauders' old school days. Harry listened aptly, thrilled with the idea of midnight adventures with a werewolf in a magic school. He thoroughly enjoyed the PB&J sandwich for lunch followed by fudgy ice cream. Never had anyone rewarded him with such treats so often. When Remus suggested they go upstairs to play with the new toys Sirius had gotten him, Harry cheered with joy and raced Remus up to his new bedroom.

By the time Sirius had gotten home he found Harry on the couch asleep with the stuffed Padfoot toy and a smile on his face.

"Well, it's about time, Sirius," Remus said coming into the room. "I wouldn't mind crashing myself. He's really careful about making too much noise, but once you get him riled up he's quite the handful. How were things with Dumbledore?"

"Loud and productive," said Sirius wearily. "After making the old man feel like scum and I got some anger out, he helped me out a bit with some extra protection charms for the house and Harry. It's damn near impossible for anyone to harm my godson now, and if by some Death Eater miracle someone does, I'll know about it instantly. You can't find a safer kid in the world."

"Don't get cocky, Padfoot, and keep in mind keep in mind that Harry isn't the only one here in danger. You need to be careful," Remus warned.

"You worry too much, Moony," Sirius said offhandedly.

Remus rolled his eyes and sighed. It was so typical of Sirius to tell him he was worrying too much with Death Eaters after him, as though he was only worrying about whether or not it would rain that afternoon.

"Look Sirius," said Remus somewhat sternly. "I'm nor sure what you've done in the short time you've been with Harry, but all this morning he's been waiting impatiently for you to come home, asking for story after story about Padfoot and Prongs, and at breakfast he had complete blind faith in you while it me over an hour to get him to say more than three-worded sentences to me at a time. The kid absolutely adores you, Padfoot, so do me and Harry a favor and be careful."

It took Sirius a moment to get over Remus being so direct with him, but once it faded he nodded quite seriously for a change at his friend.

"Good. You know I'm being completely honest about Harry," Remus said with a small smile. "It's almost exactly like when he was a baby."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, confused.

"You remember, how you always had a sixth sense about Harry. Whenever he started crying and his parents were at a lost you came over without even knowing he was crying to begin with knew exactly what he wanted. James secretly worried Harry's first word would 'Padfoot' instead of 'Dada,'" Remus explained. "Harry adored you then too."

"A sixth sense?" Sirius repeated. "It was all lucky coincidence, Moony."

"Whatever you say, Padfoot, but it seems as though that luck has returned. How else do you explain showing up at Harry's house just as the Death Eaters had last night?" Remus asked. "And the Dursleys. You knew the extent of their mistreatment the entire time, didn't you?"

"That was a hunch, a belief sprung from the obvious malnutrition and neglect. And I was too excited about Harry coming to sleep last night. It was a lucky coincidence, that's it."

"Whatever it is, you should learn to embrace it. Enjoy it. Do you have any idea how many parents would kill for that kind of gift?" Remus asked, grinning widely. "Besides, if he's as much as James as I think he is, you're going to need it. Good luck, Padfoot," he added before disapparating from the house.

"I always knew Moony was off his rocker," Sirius muttered before turning back to Harry. "Now are you going to continue pretending you're asleep, or are you going to see what Padfoot got you while he was gone?"

Harry shot up from the couch and looked up at Sirius anxiously.

Laughing, Sirius emptied his pockets of the shrunken shopping bags and enlarged them back to normal size. There had to be about twenty bags littering the living room. Opening them, Sirius revealed brand new robes, jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, pajamas, and cloaks, which all appeared to be about Harry's size. Harry, never being given anything new or something that could actually fit him, could only gape at the fine clothes for several moments.

"This is all for me?" he asked timidly.

"No, it's the newest style for adults to go walking around in toddler-sized clothes," Sirius said sarcastically. "Of course it's for you, kiddo! We could take some of it back if you don't like it or it doesn't fit right, but I thought you could use-"

Sirius was caught off as Harry hugged him tightly around the waist.

"Thank you so, so, so, so, _so_ much, Sirius," Harry said sincerely, half believing himself to be in some fairy-tale dream to be with such a nice godfather.

"Well you're very welcome, Harry," Sirius replied, chuckling lightly to see the kid so worked up over clothes as though he had just gotten his first top quality broomstick. "Now go change out those and put the rest of it in your wardrobe, alright?"

Harry nodded and ran upstairs with as many bags as he could carry without tripping over his own two feet.

Most of day after that was spent rather quietly, which was really starting to bug Sirius. He'd grown up with Harry's fairly rambunctious father, and the whole wizarding world knew just how loud Lily could be. It never seemed possible for their five-year-old son to spend his afternoon reading a book or coloring quietly. It was just plain wrong in Sirius's mind, and he wasn't about to let it go on a moment longer

"Oh Harry," Sirius said in a singsong tone, catching his godson's attention.

Seeing the evil glint in Sirius's eyes, Harry instinctively knew what was coming. He dropped his crayon and ran for it just as Sirius transformed into the gigantic shaggy black dog and tore after him. Barks and giggles resounded throughout the house as Sirius chased the boy outside where he belonged.

Once outside something caught Harry's eye and gave him a brilliant idea, only Padfoot had him cornered against a row of bushes.

Harry's eyes widened as the garden hose rose on it's own accord behind Padfoot and unexpectedly turned itself on. Padfoot gave a high-pitched yelp and jumped a mile high as water sprayed him from behind, soaking his fur.

As the garden hose relented it's attack and settled back to the ground, Padfoot glared back at his godson. Harry knew he was in trouble now. He'd done something _really_ freaky this time and drenched Sirius in the process. Harry had just enough time to think, _Uh-oh_, before Padfoot charged after him and pinned him to the ground. Sirius transformed again and tickled his godson ruthlessly in revenge.

"Stop-stop it, Padfoot!" Harry shouted through his uncontrollable giggle fit.

"Say Padfoot wins," Sirius said, grinning triumphantly.

"Never!"

Sirius continued tickling relentlessly. "Say it."

Harry was now laughing so hard he could barely get a breath in.

"St-op it! Lemme-go!"

"Not until you say it," Sirius said teasingly.

"Pad-foot-wins," Harry gasped defeatedly.

"What was that?"

"Padfoot wins! Padfoot wins!"

Sirius stopped, satisfied, and got off the small boy.

"Of course I win," he said smugly, shaking his dripping hair in a very dog-like manner. "That ought to teach you not to challenge-"

Sirius was cut off as mud splattered across his face. Whipping the muck out of his eyes he found Harry's incriminating muddy hand.

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh's right," Sirius replied menacingly, gathering his own handful of mud.

They spent hours outside until Sirius insisted it was getting too late. After both had bathed and Sirius got the house-elves to wash their downright grimy clothes, they had a rather large dinner that Harry quickly found he couldn't finish. Sirius, however, wouldn't allow Harry to leave the table he had eaten at least ¾ of what was on his plate, claiming he was much too skinny to not finish a meal.

At nine, Sirius figured it was time was bed, though Harry refused to sleep without a Marauder story. When Harry started nodding off, Sirius attempted to leave for his own bed. Harry woke with a start and hesitantly begged Sirius not to leave, not just yet.

Sirius sighed and sank back down on Harry's bed. "What's up with you, kiddo?" he asked, rubbing soothing circles on Harry's back, because it just felt so natural to do so.

"Nothing," Harry mumbled into Sirius's shoulder. "I just don't want you go yet."

Sirius took a guess. "Scared of the Death Eaters, huh?"

Harry paused, then nodded shamefully. "Why did they come last night?"

Sirius chewed his lip pensively. It was best to get it over with now, he figured, even if it had to be a watered-down version.

"Because when you were really, really little, their master, Voldemort, wanted to hurt you, but you made him go away instead. That's how you got that scar," Sirius explained wearily, pushing the boy's messy hair out of his eyes to reveal the famous lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead. "After you stopped their master, they were all caught and punished for all the bad things they did, and you were the wizarding world's hero. Now they're angry and want their master back. They want to hurt you because you made their master go away."

Harry listened as though it was all just another bedtime story. "I didn't do that," he said disbelievingly.

"You were only a year old, Harry. You wouldn't remember it," replied Sirius.

"Well how did I do it then? A baby can't do that," Harry asked curiously.

"You could, only no one knows how. When Voldemort tried to hurt you, all you got was that cut and his power broke. Now he's hiding, barely alive."

"Why would he want to hurt me, though?" Harry asked curiously, his eyes drooping sleepily. "I didn't do anything."

"I'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

"Fine," Harry said disappointedly, too tired to care much.

A comfortable silence fell over the two as Harry finally let his eyes close. He smiled as Sirius stroked his hair absently. He couldn't get over the difference between Sirius and the Dursleys. Part of him was certain if he'd fall asleep he'd wake to the sound of Aunt Petunia knocking loudly on his cupboard door, ordering him to get breakfast started, and Sirius would turn out to be just a dream.

Harry opened his eyes to peer up at his godfather.

"Sirius?"

"Hmmm?"

Harry fiddled with his blanket nervously. "Um…could you, maybe, stay here tonight?" he asked, remembering that Aunt Petunia let Dudley stay with her when he had a nightmare or something, yet always shunned Harry away.

"Of course, kiddo," Sirius answered, climbing under the blankets with his godson and holding him tightly.


	3. Two to Six Years Later

Disclaimer:grumbles: I own nothing you stupid icky lawyers…Go away and leave me alone

**Chapter 3: Two to Six Years Later **

Two years had passed and Sirius had kept his word to Lily and James, though there had been several close calls and Sirius had gone out of mind with worry every time Harry disappeared. He had been driven to do things he never imagined he would do.

Sirius had set up rules.

His godson could never be out after nightfall. Harry was not allowed to wander if they ever left the house, but keep a hold of Sirius's hand and stay by his side at all times. He was not allowed to touch a wand as well, as it often led to chaos and the occasional dangerous explosion.

Those had been the necessary rules, but Sirius soon found he made others without even realizing it. Harry had to finish 2/3 of meal before leaving the table. Harry was not allowed to tamper with the height restriction set on his broom until Sirius felt he was ready. Before Sirius pulled him out of school to be taught at home, Harry wasn't allowed to do anything else until his homework was finished and was not allowed to stay up past nine on school nights. If any of the rules were broken, Harry was punished, usually by taking away his broom for the appropriate amount of time.

It wasn't until Remus made a comment during a dinner he had stayed over for, when Sirius said, "You know the rules," after Harry tried to get away from his meal with only a few bites, that Sirius became aware of how horrifyingly parental he had become.

Still, even with Remus's taunting voice reminding him how "grown-up his icke Padfoot was" whenever Harry knocked on his door after a bad dream and snuggled close under the blankets with him he could only think of the good that came with the rules. Harry was still safe and happy with him and that was all that mattered.

Of course, raising a small child could be rather draining. Sirius was usually very good about waking at the crack of dawn with his godson despite his firm belief that the day didn't start until at least ten in the morning. Today, however, Sirius wasn't coming out his first deep sleep in weeks without a fight.

Harry pulled Remus upstairs by the sleeve into Sirius's room and put a finger to his lips.

Remus glanced at his watch and sighed. Either his watch was three hours slow, or Sirius should have been up hours ago.

"Get up you lazy mutt! It's going on one o'clock! Time to feed your godson, take a shower, have a life!"

"Sirius only pushed his head deeper into his pillow and muttered, "Take notes for me Remy. I'm sick today."

Rolling his eyes as Harry giggled, Remus strode over Sirius and gave him one hard shove, pushing him right out of bed.

"Goddamit Mother! I said I'm up!"

"Do you always speak to your mother like that?" Harry asked curiously, climbing onto Sirius's bed and jumping on contently.

Sirius decided not to answer.

"Do have any idea what time it is, Sirius?" Remus asked sternly.

"Um…" Sirius glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. "Holy hell, Harry! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I tried like fifty-eight bazillion times!" Harry exclaimed, still jumping.

"Do you have any idea how long you left Harry unattended? Do you have any clue what could happen to any seven-year-old in that time, let alone _Harry Potter_, being alone that long?" Remus demanded.

"Nothing happened, did it?" Sirius asked worriedly, looking very guilty.

Remus was tempted to say that Voldemort himself had his wand directed at Harry, just to get the point through Sirius's infamously thick skull, but decided against it.

"No, but something damn well could have. If you wanted some extra sleep, Sirius, you should have just sent Harry to my place. You know, I'm always willing to take him off your hands for awhile if you'd like."

"I know, Moony. I just didn't realize how late it was," Sirius said apologetically.

Picking himself off the floor, Sirius held his arms out to Harry who jumped into happily.

"I'm starving, how about you, kiddo?" Sirius asked, having missed both breakfast and lunch.

Harry nodded vigorously.

The three walked downstairs into the kitchen where an owl was waiting impatiently on the open window ledge. Putting Harry down at the table, Sirius went to take the letter from its outstretched claw.

"You don't have to go to the Ministry, do you?" Harry asked nervously.

Harry hated his godfather's job as a Ministry Auror. It was the only thing he could see Sirius doing for a living and Sirius enjoyed it and all. He was one of the best, and he got to stay home more often than other Ministry workers when he wasn't on call, but Harry hated it. Remus had already gotten four calls from St. Mungo's informing them of Sirius's more serious injuries, and even when Sirus did manage to escape to hospitalization he still often came home with cuts and bruises.

"Hogwarts?" Sirius muttered, staring at the seal. "Must be from Dumbledore. But why-?"

"I'd gotten one as well," Remus announced. "That's why I came here in the first place to find you still fast asleep."

Shrugging, Sirius opened the letter and read it through quickly, taking a seat next to Harry.

"What's it about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Huh? Um…nothing much." Sirius said evasively, folding the letter. "We're going to have to go to Hogwarts in a bit, though. Go on and eat without me, kid. I have to get ready to go." He turned to Remus, "What do you know about this, Moony?"

"Probably as much as do, Padfoot; practically nothing."

"Do I get to come too?" Harry asked pleadingly.

"Yes, but you have to wait outside Dumbledore's office," Sirius replied. "You can have a look about the castle or something. Be ready to go in about a half hour," he said getting up from the table.

- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -

"C'mon Harry," Jame said encouragingly. "Give Daddy his wand back now."

Harry had no intention of doing such a thing. He was having far too much fun. He had already exploded nearly every kitchen appliance, conjured an army of rubber duckies that were currently invading the kitchen, turned the entire living room, it's contents, and his parents bright orange, shrunk his father down to his size, and sent his mother flying about the ceiling after disarming her.

"For crying out loud, James, just take it from him!" Lily shouted from above.

"How thick do you think I am? If I try that again he might give me Snivellus's hair next!"

Harry gave a little giggle at that, though he probably couldn't understand most of what his father said.

"And now I'm just planting ideas in his head," James muttered.

"JAMES! WE'RE THE PARENTS! DO SOMETHING!"

Face the wrath of his wife or his son? They were both quite formidable at the moment. The only way out of this was to somehow trick his exceptionally bright child into surrendering the wand.

James put on the most serious and threatening face he could fake in his bright orange toddler state and said quite clearly and sternly, "Harry James Potter, give your father his wand back this instant or you won't ride a broomstick until you're twenty."

Now that much Harry understood. Harry dropped the wand in shock and started counting his fingers, his expression becoming more fearsome the higher he got as James snatched the wand up and started putting thing to right again.

He paused at Lily. Did he really want to bring her back down just yet? The look in her eyes as he hesitated was so menacing that he figured he wouldn't live to see Harry's second birthday if he didn't.

Once all was right in the Potter household Lily prepared herself to scold her son for disobeying his parents, before proceeding to yell at her husband for stupidly leaving his wand where Harry could get a hold of it.

Harry, sitting down and not managing to get past twelve on his toes started crying and reaching for his mother.

James, alarmed that his bluff had actually caused his son to cry, picked Harry up and tried to soothe him.

"C'mon Harry, I didn't mean it. I'll take you up as soon as I get your mother to trust me alone with you," James promised, ignoring the glare from his wife. "Shhh. It's alright, kiddo. You know I could never deny you a broomstick."

"Since her husband was failing so miserably, Lily took her son into her arms and made her own feeble attempted at calming her baby.

After five minutes of Harry's wailings, both parents were starting to worry. Harry never cried like this unless something was wrong.

"I'm calling Sirius," James announced, knowing if they couldn't find what was the matter, Harry's godfather would.

"And a healer," Lily added, rocking Harry back and forth.

"He hasn't got a fever, Lily. We've checked. He's fine."

"I just want to be certain," she said over her son's wails.

James glanced back at his son worriedly. No, he wasn't sick, or sour about the broomstick or the wand. Still he clung to his mother the way he would after waking from a nightmare and refused to be put for five seconds until he was fast asleep. James could remember rocking Harry back and forth for hours, much like how Lily was now, reassuring his son that whatever was in the dream didn't matter and because he'd never let anything hurt Harry. Every time he tried and failed to put Harry down, he'd promise to stay with Harry no matter what.

Suddenly the wards around the house alerted him to an intruder and realization hit James like he'd just gotten run over by the Hogwarts Express.

"Lily, take Harry and go!" It's him! Go! Rin! I'll hold him off-"

Just as Lily had started to run off with their baby boy the door had burst open and Lord Voldemort came in with that annoying high-pitched laugher.

Then they had dueled.

"The next thing I knew the house was in ruins. I tried calling Sirius and Remus, but I couldn't reach Remus, probably because it was so late, and apparently Sirius had moved overnight or something." James went on. "Dumbledore, where's Lily? What happened to her and Harry?" he asked desperately, sounding somewhat fearful of the reply.

Dumbledore sighed as James finished his story and sent the two owls away. "James, you'll have to forgive my shock upon seeing you tonight. There's no easy way to tell you this, but there's quite a bit you need to know before Sirius and Remus arrive."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry was told he was welcome to go anywhere he pleased in on the castle grounds with the exception of the hospital wing and the Forbidden Forest (though Harry thought the name made it quite obvious he wasn't allowed there), since the students were still gone for the summer holidays.

He had of course heard all about Hogwarts through Padfoot's and Moony's stories, but seeing it was a different thing entirely. The Quidditch Pitch was huge, the staircase kept changing on him, rooms appeared out of nowhere, and he gotten lost with his very first turn. Harry stood and gaped when he found the Great Hall with the enchanted ceiling. The entire castle was amazing and filled with more magic than Harry could have ever imagined.

He couldn't believe his luck when he found the Fat Lady, who luckily didn't insist on a password since the children were all gone. Harry was stunned that he was actually in the Gryffindor common room, where the Marauders came up with their greatest pranks.

After taking in the cozy room, Harry's eyes fell on a rug in a corner of the room, seemingly randomly placed. Harry grinned as the story of one of his father's pranks gone wrong came to mind. He forgot just what his father was planning on exploding with a dungbomb of his own creation, but it went off early and destroyed a good chunk of the common room and could have easily harmed a student. It took a month of repairs and the smell lingered into their following year, Sirius had told him.

Removing the rug, Harry could see where his father had cemented the huge crater as part of his punishment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sirius gaped at the headmaster for what seemed to eternity in his mind. The word 'ALIVE!' flashed like a gigantic neon sign before his eyes and echoed within his ears. It seemed impossible to even allow the word into his thoughts after all these years, but Dumbledore had given that the man currently within the hospital wing really was James Potter, without a doubt in his mind.

But it couldn't be true. There had to be another explanation. The real James Potter couldn't be alive, no matter how much wished it was. It could only be the sick work of the Death Eaters, trying to hurt his godson again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After a full examination, Madam Pomfrey still wasn't satisfied with James's perfect health. She seemed to have a need to find _something_ that wasn't normal for an average adult wizard's body. After hours of being poked and prodded with the nurse's wand, James finally snuck out of the hospital wing when she left for some instrument that definitely didn't sound very pleasant.

Afraid that Dumbledore would send him back to the nurse if he dared to badger him with the zillion other questions James hadn't asked yet, he started to wander about the castle.

James could only repeat the information in his mind over and over trying to make some sort of sense of it all.

'Harry's alright. That's what was most important. Still, Harry, his baby boy, defeated the most feared dark wizard at fifteen months. Lily…his beautiful Lily…was gone. Nearly six years had pasted since yesterday. Harry was seven. Harry was sent to live with the Dursleys while Sirius suffered four years of imprisonment. It was all wrong. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, but Sirius was freed and saved Harry during a Death Eater attack on the Dursleys that had cost them their lives. The Death Eaters was still after them. It'd been six years….Lily…He was believed to be dead…for _six bloody years_.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry jumped as the portrait door swung open. Smiling brightly he ran to the door excitedly saying, "I found it Sirius! I found the spot where-"

Harry came too an abrupt halt at the man in front of him, his smile quickly fading. The man in the pictures, in the stories, the one that Sirius said he was most like, was standing before him. His father was here, with him, in Hogwarts, obviously alive and well though a little pale in the face, but here.

James stood there just as shocked as Harry, for it was most certainly his son in front of him. Only his son could have inherited such unruly black hair, standing up in all directions. Only his son could have such brilliant emerald green eyes…exactly like Lily's. He knew Sirius and Remus would come to today, but as anxious as was to see his son, James hadn't expected him. He wasn't prepared to find Harry in Gryffindor common room.

For several seconds they only stood staring at one another in shock, taking in every detail of the other. Both were so painfully afraid that should they blink the other would vanish.

"D-dad?" Harry finally said timidly, his voice full of uncertainty.

James nodded numbly.

Sirius's anxious calls could be heard through the portrait, but quickly faded. Neither of them moved.

"H-he sounds worried," Harry managed to get out. "Sirius gets mad if I worry him. He'll take my broom away again."

Harry made to walk past his father, sure this wasn't real, positive he was dreaming. He needed to find Sirius. He needed to talk to him. He needed to wake up from this from dream so he could be back with his godfather looking after him as he fell back to sleep.

"Wait," James said suddenly, stopping Harry in his tracks. Bright green eyes stared up at him almost cautiously. "You're my son. You're Harry," he said thickly.

Harry nodded with a slight smile.

"You fly?"

Harry nodded again, grinning broadly. "Sirius got me one of the new Comet Two Sixties for Christmas. It's awesome! Only…the worrying buggerhead won't let me higher than forty feet," he grumbled.

James burst out laughing at his son's new term for his godfather. "Worrying buggerhead? Sirius? Maybe Remus…but definitely not-"

"He starts freaking out every time I dive!" Harry exclaimed. "He keeps checking to make sure I'm next to him whenever we go shopping or something every minute. It's annoying. Moony says it's just a phase, but he won't stop!"

James had to stop and wonder what parenting a small child must be like to have such an affect on Sirius. Sirius was the most carefree person he knew.

"Dad?"

"Yes Harry?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but Sirius had always insisted upon him asking whatever question popped into his head, and boy did he have questions now. "What happened? Sirius and everyone…they said…you and mum…"

James winced at the mention of Harry's mother. Her death still seemed so unreal to him. Still he sighed and squatted to be eyelevel with his son.

"I'm not sure what happened, Harry," James said sadly. "Dumbledore has a few guesses, but all that's important is that I'm here now. I've got a second chance to look after my son."

"So…you back, to stay?"

"Most definitely staying," James confirmed, pulling Harry into the tight embrace he'd been holding back since he found him. Harry returned it, resting his on his father's shoulder as he lifted him up. "Now let's go find that buggerhead godfather of yours-"

"Let him go," a cold voice said from behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

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	4. Potters Just Won't Die!

Disclaimer:grumbles: I own nothing you stupid icky lawyers…Go away and leave me alone

**Chapter 4: Potters Just Won't Die!**

James turned to find Sirius and Remus standing in the doorway. Remus only stared dumbly in shock, looking extremely confused, while Sirius stood rigidly, glaring at James with a horrible mix of fear, disgust, and pure hatred burning in his eyes.

Just let my godson go and I swear I'll give you a nice painless death instead of the far more deserving methods I had in mind," Sirius said in an unsteady voice.

James only stood disbelievingly. He had no idea why his best friend was behaving this way. He didn't know how to react.

Remus had no idea what he was supposed to think.

Harry was far more confused than all the Marauders combined. Weren't Sirius and his father best friends? Shouldn't Sirius be just as overwhelmingly happy as Harry was, instead of staring at James as though he'd like nothing more than to send James straight back to his grave?

"Sirius-?"

"Give me my godson," Sirius repeated, this time more urgently, pulling his wand out. "Whatever the filthy rat taught you about James Potter is useless. It may have fooled Dumbledore, but no one can fool me.

'So that's what this is about,' James thought. 'Sirius thinks this all some Death Eater plot.'

Knowing he'd get his head blown off if he didn't, James placed Harry back on the ground. With his wand still pointed in James's direction, Sirius pulled Harry away from his father.

Sirius, I know this hard for you to accept, but-" James tried to explain, but Sirius interrupted shrewdly.

"Oh no. You have no idea how this is not to accept, but I'm not going to put Harry in danger because I'm gullible enough to believe this demented Death Eater rouse."

"Look, ask me anything you like. I'll prove-"

"Dammit, just cut the act out or I swear you really will be a dead man within the next three seconds."

"But Sirius," Harry said softly, tugging on his godfather's sleeve. "Can't you just test him? What if it really is my dad?"

Sirius's cold expression immediately softened into one that James could recognize with the tiny tug.

"Harry I know this is hard for you to understand, but I was there, kiddo. I saw you dad…that night. He's gone, Harry. There's no way that this man could possibly be-"

"Prongs," Remus interrupted, gaining everyone's attention for the first time since he entered the room.

"No one has the ability to copy Prongs. No matter how much anyone knows and acts like James, no matter what potion or charm anyone can use fro his appearance, no one can copy Prongs."

"Brilliant," Harry said, smiling once more.

Sirius suddenly looked uncertain.

"May I?" James asked his friend pleasantly, as though Sirius wasn't pointing his wand at him threateningly.

Sirius still looked skeptical, as though he was trying to decide if this some sort of trick or not. Then, after picking Harry up protectively, he nodded.

Harry beamed, Remus's jaw dropped, and Sirius nearly dropped his godson as a stag appeared before them.

James Potter really was alive.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

James watched in amusement as Sirius and Harry chased after each other in the yard. Harry, being frightfully skilled with wandless magic, was brilliant at holding the great black mutt off, levitating him into the air, sicking the hose on him, creating invisible barriers, and invoking some crazy force that tended to pull Sirius by the tail. It wasn't long before they decided to come in, looking utterly exhausted.

Harry was fast asleep on the couch within minutes.

"I knew he would be good at magic," James commented quietly, "but I had no idea he'd be _that_ good. "Do you always go out there and let him exercise it freely like that?"

"You don't know about the numerous explosions whenever he gets startled. Just a couple months ago I burnt my tongue on my coffee early one morning while he was still half asleep. I cursed a bit and the kid was so out of it he nearly destroyed my kitchen," Sirius explained. "It's better to get it all out of him in the morning so he'll crash and be too tired for magic for the rest of the day. Not only does it give me some quiet for a while, but he's learning how to control it with minimum damage to the house. It works," he said with a shrug, taking a seat beside his friend.

"Yeah," James said, remembering that it was only yesterday to him that Harry had turned their house upside down after he'd managed to get a hold of his wand. " I always knew he'd be a handful. Have you told Dumbledore about this? What does he say?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "He just said to encourage it. Like I couldn't figure that much on my own. He grew up with those damn muggles so he was never allowed to do magic without getting in trouble. Of course he had to be encouraged! I just remember that at Harry's age I only had a few magical accidents every year and never did I have any control over them." Sirius looked over to his sleeping godson across from him. "He's a good kid and everything, but it's kids like Harry that brought about the creation of the sleeping potion."

"So it's true then," James said smugly. "Sirius Black is turning into a buggerheaded old man."

Sirius instantly recognized the term. "I am not!" he protested. "What has that little brat been telling you?"

"Nothing much, I'm afraid. What's he been like these two years? When did he first get up on broomstick? Is he still a little mischief-maker? Does he have a favorite Quidditch team? What about school? Is he-?"

"Would you shut your trap already? You're going to wake him ranting on and on like that," Sirius said sternly, getting up from his seat and picking up a leather-bound book sitting on the coffee table. "Here. Maybe this will help satisfy your curiosity until he wakes up and you can ask him yourself," he said handing James the book.

James opened it to find picture after picture of Harry, smiling brightly in every single one. Sirius was often laughing with him, or being the guinea pig in a prank, or just standing aside watching his godson proudly. Remus appeared quite often as well, also frequently the victim of a joke. Then there was a group of redheads with son that James didn't recognize.

"Who are they?" James asked curiously, pointing to the picture.

Sirius looked over James's shoulder and smiled at the picture of the Weasley twins ganging up on their two younger siblings armed with snowballs. Harry, hiding under the invisibility cloak he'd gotten that year for Christmas, was freaking the twins out as he pelted snowballs at them. Unfortunately Fred managed to hit Harry after finding where the snowballs were coming from. Harry then came out from under his cloak and shouted over at the two trees where the oldest of the Weasley brothers, Bill and Charlie, came out and helped the younger ones send Fred and George home shivering.

"Those are the Weasleys," Sirius informed his friend. "Arthur works at the Ministry with me, Misuse of Muggle-Artifacts. I had to take Harry to the office one day while Remus had a job interview. There was some sort of emergency while we were there, Unforgivables being used on muggles or something, and obviously I couldn't take Harry, so Arthur volunteered to look after him for a while. After that I learned that he had a whole mess of children and Harry really could have used friends his age then. So Harry and Ron there, who's going to Hogwarts the same year as Harry, are now best friends. That's Bill and Charlie, the oldest. Percy's not in the picture, but he has future no-fun-all-rules-prefect written all over him. Then there's the littlest and only girl, Ginny, who has had a bit of a crush on Harry since the moment she met him, which is absolutely hilarious to watch.

"The Weasleys all treat Harry like family. I'm shocked Molly hasn't tried to kidnap Harry, dye his hair red, and claim him as her own yet. Mind you, she's probably considered it. She doesn't really approve of my parenting, you see," Sirius explained, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Which I've told you a hundred times, Padfoot, is because she's one of those kind of mums who has to nurture every sweet little boy who steps foot into her house, and she's not over here all the time to see for herself the way you look after Harry," Remus said sternly, walking into the room wit tea for himself and coffee for Sirius and James as they would need it when Harry got up. "She already had a biased opinion of you before ever walked into her house. To her you're just a childish, self-centered man with a hotheaded temper and a mouth a sailor would be ashamed of, and while yes, you are all those things, she doesn't see all you're redeeming qualities like…" Remus paused pensively for a moment before turning to James. "Umm…help me out here, Prongs."

James thought about it for a moment then answered, "Er, you adorable puppy dogs face."

Sirius rolled his eyes and smacked James upside the head as he and Remus burst out laughing. Harry groaned at the noise and rolled over, hushing the Marauders.

James looked at Sirius and said quite seriously, " It looks to me like you've been one hell of godfather," gesturing to the photo album of happy pictures of the past two years. "Even if it has turned you into a buggerheaded old man."

"A buggerheaded old man with rules," Remus amended.

"Well at least I'm not the one with all the gray hairs, Moony," Sirius shot back.

"You seem to forget that you're five months older, Padfoot," Remus reminded him.

"The both of you are bickering old men and I'm not a day over twenty," James said triumphantly, sticking his tongue out at the pair of them.

Both Remus and Sirius glanced at each other in silent agreement.

"You dare to call your fellow Marauders old?" Remus asked in a hurt tone.

"Gray hair and rule-making sounds a lot more like ancient than old, doesn't it," James replied thoughtfully.

"That's an act of war, Potter!" Sirius declared.

Harry woke up to the sounds of shouting coming from the kitchen. Getting up from the couch curiously, he walked to the kitchen and opened the door cautiously to nearly get squirted with chocolate syrup.

"What the-?"

All three Marauders looked up, all covered in a variety of foods.

"Uh…it's not what it looks like," Sirius said, trying to hide the incriminating bottle of chocolate.

"You guys had a food fight!" Harry exclaimed, staring at the "adults" in awe.

"Um…no we didn't?" Remus replied, looking at James for help.

"Of course we are!" James said grinning. "Grab some food and help me show these two how old and feeble they are, Harry!"

"Hey! No fair!" Sirius declared. "Harry, get James or you're grounded!"

"I'm the dad around here, Sirius. Ha! Harry, get the old mutt or your grounded!"

"How dare you turn my own godson against me, Prongs! That's just wrong!"

While Sirius and James were busy trying to recruit Harry Remus handed Harry the ketchup, he took the mustard, and they both attacked.

"MOONY!"

"Uh-oh. Run for it!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"My lord, are the rumors true?" Bellatrix asked. "Has Potter really returned?"

"Yes," Voldemort hissed in answer. "The boy has something to do with, I assure you, Bella."

"My Lord," Bellatrix said hesitantly. "If Potter really has returned we have no hope of coming close to the boy again. The last attempts have been continually thwarted by Black. With Potter also protecting the boy, perhaps it would be best to return you to power now, using another."

"A second Potter has escaped death by hands because of that boy. There will be no other. I want only the blood of Harry Potter, do I make myself clear, Bellatrix?"

"Yes my Lord," she replied dutifully, sinking into a low bow.

"Lord Voldemort has his reasons. You must learn patience, Bella, something I can easily fix. The boy can't hide behind his precious guardians forever. We shall wait for the opportunity to present itself. In the mean time…"

"Yes my Lord?"

"Crucio!" Voldemort looked down at his servant twitching and screaming on the floor indifferently. "Never doubt my power to kill a Potter, Bellatrix. I finish what I've begun."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Harry leapt out of bed as pain exploded and coursed through his scar. He ran out of his lonely bedroom and into the hall, ready to knock on Sirius's door.

But as the pain began to dull, Harry realized that there was _two_ doors for him to choose from.

Harry stood between them, trying to figure out which to take. He always went to Sirius when he had a bad dream. Sirius was all he had. But now his father was here for him as well. Harry was stuck between wanting his father there for him, and the familiar comfort that Sirius had always provided for him.

Unable to make a decision, Harry crawled back into bed, feeling very alone. No one was there to draw his attention away from the high-pitched voice of Voldemort or the vision of the Death Eater who had tried and tried again to take him form Sirius, on the floor screaming in pain.

"DAD! SIRIUS!" Harry called at the top of his lungs in fright.

Both adults were in room in seconds, both with wands out and ready. They sighed in relief as they found Harry alone.

"Harry, what's wrong, kiddo?" James asked worriedly.

"Nightmare?" Sirius guessed.

Harry nodded. "I-I got scared."

"You want to tell us about it?" James asked, sitting next to his son.

Harry shook his head vigorously.

"You want to tell us who was in it?" Sirius asked, knowing there were only three people in Harry's nightmares that really scared him: Voldemort, Bellatrix, and his uncle.

Harry considered it for a moment before answering, "Bellatrix and Voldemort."

James's eyes widened upon hearing those names in his son's dreams.

"What kind of dream?" Sirius asked, trying to sound comforting instead of demanding.

"It hurt," Harry answered, knowing Sirius would understand. "A lot," he added, rubbing his scar.

"What do you mean?" James asked, also trying to keep his tone. Dreams weren't supposed to hurt.

"Harry sometimes has dreams that real when it comes to Voldemort. It has something to do with the connection between him and Voldemort through his scar. It hurts him whenever this kind of thing happens," Sirius explained, hoping James would wait until morning to freak out.

Taking a seat on the opposite side of Harry, he rubbed soothing circles on his godson's back. "Harry, you know you have to tell me what was in that dream."

Harry buried his face in his father's sleeve. "It was scary."

"I know it was, Harry," Sirius said understandingly, "but you know what's happened before. If you don't tell us then James and I won't be as prepared to help you if Voldemort's planning something again. I can't let anything happen to you because you were scared of a dream, alright Harry?"

James held his son in a tight embrace as Harry nodded against his chest. Harry looked up at Sirius, hesitated, but said fearfully, "They know we've got Dad back and Bellatrix was worried it'd be harder to get me now. She said something about using another instead, but Voldemort wouldn't let her. He did one of those bad curses on her and hurt her a lot, Padfoot. The ones you told me about. Then he said…" Harry pause and look up at his father.

"Go on Harry," James encouraged.

Harry took a deep breath and continued. "H-he said she should never doubt his power t-to k-kill a Potter. He said he'd f-finish what he begun."

Sirius looked up fearfully at James upon hearing that. They both silently agreed it was a conversation best left in the morning while Harry slept. The two hugged their charge tightly.

"That was very brave, Harry." Sirius told him. "You did good, kid. Okay?"

Harry nodded, biting his lip. "Can you two stay with me tonight?"

"You think I'd leave you alone with a dream like that?" James asked weakly. "Scoot over, kiddo, you're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

"We'd be kinda squished if I joined in, Harry." Sirius pointed out, knowing both he and James tended to roll around quite a bit from sharing a dorm with his friend for seven years.

Harry patted his lap, making his meaning clear.

"Alright, fine," Sirius said, transforming into the great black dog and jumping on his godson.

Harry snuggled up between the two of them, never feeling safer than he did now.

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